TOKYO -- More and more coffee shops are being equipped with showrooms for bathroom and other housing fixtures, radio studios and travel agencies in an attempt to lure customers by offering them more than just a cup of premium roast.

Yes, when I settle down at my seat at Beck's or that little inexpensive cafe with the yellow decor on the south side of the road running between Taishō Rōman Dōri and the Kita-in in Kawagoe, I lose myself in the reverie: